Life Happens
by lilybub
Summary: Post release Fridget story. This takes place during season 4(ish) but does not follow closely to the actual season, just the general timeline.
1. Ambush

After transferring some documents from my old computer to my current I stumbled back upon this. I started this story about a year and a half ago but lost steam. I have 4 chapters finished out of an outlined 20+ that I don't really plan on finishing, so if you are wanting a completed story with a nice tied up ending you might want to give this one a miss. I didn't post it when I started writing it out of fear that I would get started and then quit on it, but after some contemplation I decided that I put a decent amount of time into it so I would post it anyways. The chapters in this story are roughly written and briskly edited so fair warning.

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"Franky! Please, stop." Bridget called as she trailed behind an angry Franky storming her way toward the front door.

She stopped and spun on her heels to face Bridget. "Gidge, I'm really tired of you constantly picking everyone over me. You are always trying to defend people, but you never see how it affects me." Franky knew she was overreacting, but she was so stressed, now just wasn't the right time to talk.

Bridget reached out to hold Franky's hand and was denied. The angry woman took a step backwards, towards the door, still facing Bridget.

"Franky, I'm not trying to defend them; I'm just trying to show you their point of view."

"Well their point of view is shit!" Franky spat back. "I can't believe you even listen to them. After everything we've been through, I would have thought you'd ignore the comments people have about our relationship."

"It's not that they feel negatively about you, they were just trying to express their concern-"

"See! There you go again trying to defend them! Does it matter what they think about me? What about how_you_think of me? Does _that _even matter? It's like how you felt about me in the beginning has been tainted by everyone else." Franky was fuming. "I strive every fucking day to be a better person, but does that stop them from shitting on me? No, it doesn't. I don't know what else I can do to make people see that I've changed. That I'm _not _the old me. No matter what I do, they will always see me as that awful person. Every time. Then when I hear you defending them it makes me feel even worse than if it were just them who had said it. I thought that you'd be the one to defended me, and it hurts that you don't. It makes me feel like maybe you agree with them, believe all the things they say."

Bridget saw where she had fucked up, how she had hurt the woman. "Franky, baby, I'm sorry. You're right. Their opinions don't matter and I really don't pay them any mind"

"Well you're doing a really shitty job at not _paying them any mind _right now" Franky mocked back.

"I get why you're mad. They don't matter. No one else matters but you, and I think the world of you." She tries again to reach for Franky's hand and she doesn't back away. Once she's holding her hand, Franky gives nothing back, she doesn't pull away, doesn't hold _her_hand, she just stands there staring at Bridget.

"Look, Gidge. I really can't have this conversation right now. I hate it when we fight, and I feel if we keep talking I'm going to say something I will either regret, or don't mean. Now just isn't the time. I'm already stressed with work and school. The smallest thing will set me off, please don't let that be you . Please, can we have this conversation later? I'll be home around 5, and we can go from there."

Bridget looks on at her and gives her a quick nod. "Yeah, baby. We can talk about it later."

Franky quickly turns back around dodging Bridget's kiss goodbye. She knows she'll regret everything said this morning and their talk at dinner would consist of her apologizing profusely. It's not that she's necessarily mad at Bridget, just at the general world and everyone in it, she really shouldn't be taking it out on her. She turns back around towards the door, grabs the handle, yanks it open, booms out of the door and walks towards her car.

She really does feel bad for taking it out on Bridget and promises to make it up to her later. With the anger still coursing through her body, she's oblivious to the person walking towards her as she unlocks the car door.

"The fuck?" she says when she looks up and sees her father half jogging towards her. Fan-fuckin-tastic, this is exactly what she needs, just the cherry on top of the shit sundae that is her life right now. Why couldn't he show up any other day, or better yet, just leave her alone.

"Hiya, Franky" he says with a smile.

She scowls back "What do you want?" Alan is taken aback by Franky's tone, he didn't think he would be received well, but with the level of venomocity Franky quipped back, he balked. "I'm really fuckin busy and don't have time to deal with your bullshit."

"Um, yeah, sorry. I just wanted to talk to you real quick."

"Well I'm standing here. Say what you have to say so you can leave and I can get on with my day."

He stared wide eyed back at her "I know you must be busy. I've seen you leave for work a couple times and just wanted to catch you-"

"So, you're stalking me now, are you?" this was not something that Franky wanted to deal with.

"No, I mean yes, I've been trying to get a hold of you" he paused thinking about what he was going to say next.

"Well? Spit it out, I don't have all day" Franky unconsciously tapping her foot, arms crossed over her chest.

He leaned forward with a piece of paper in his hand and quickly gave it to Franky. She looked down at the paper, slightly damp from being clutched in clammy hands for so long, and saw a number scribbled down.

"This is my number. I really would like to get back in touch with you. You don't have to make any decisions now; I don't expect you to want to talk to me-"

"You're fuckin right about one thing" she said still scowling, and from how people responded at Wentworth and how he looks now, she knows she still has it. One look could stop a person in their tracks.

He flinches as she uncrosses her arms. "Why should I even want to talk to you?"

"Franky," he says as he reaches towards her, and realized that was not a welcomed gesture a minute too late receiving a low warning growl come from her. He immediately steps back which satisfies Franky giving him a small demeaning smile. Normally, someone would take the hint and leave her alone, walk away as far and fast as possible, but not him. She had to give him a little bit of credit; she knew she was scary, so staying to continue what he had to say took a bit of guts. His face was weary but he finally looked up and met Franky's eyes. "I know you must hate me-"

"I thought we had already established that?" she responded as she rose her eyebrows.

He tried his best to ignore her comment; act like he hadn't heard it, but his slight falter gave him away. "I wanted to let you know that you have a little sister. Her name is Tessa and she's four and a half years old. I just wanted you to know and was hoping you would be willing to meet her. Maybe try to have a relationship?"

She looked at him dumbfounded. "I have a what?"

"A little sister" he looked back up to her.

"Yeah, I got that much."

"Please," he looked at her, trying his best to keep his composure "just think about it will you?" He looked at her staring at him. He knew that this would not be a fun conversation to have, but he had to have it, for Tessa. "You have my number, please just think about it. Call me? She would love to meet her big sister." After he finished what he had to say, he stepped back from Franky's car, while she looked back down at the paper, tossed it in the front seat, and ducked her head to get in the car. She was already late for work.

"Yeah, got it." She says dismissively. He looked at her and she returned the gaze, looked down at the crumpled paper on the passenger seat that had his scribbled number, and then back up at him again. He finally took this as the best answer he was going to get from her.

"Thanks" he tried to say over the door slamming and the engine starting up.

After Franky sped away, she let out a massive sigh. This is not how she expected her day to start. A fight with the woman she loves, ambushed by a man she despised, and late for work? All of that in itself is enough for one day, but a bomb that her dad just dropped was just the icing on top of thecake . Surely, he wouldn't be so low as to try to get her to talk to him by making up a fake sister. So much had happened already and it hasn't even reached 10 am.

Clusterfuck would be the best way to describe how her day has been going so far.

Looks like she and Bridget would be having quite the dinner conversation.

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Thanks for reading and I hope you guys liked it. Any comments or suggestions would be much appreciated it. Just a reminder that I will post the next few chapters that I've already written, but unless I gain major interest or find motivation this story will remain incomplete.


	2. Hell Hath No Fury

It has been one hell of a day. After their fight this morning, her father showing up out of nowhere, all of the paperwork she had to do at work, and to add to all of this she just got an email from her professor with an updated syllabus. He added an additional paper that would be due in three weeks. The prompt was easy, but in order to get it finished in time while working, along with her other classes, she needed to start asap.

She needed a breather, and a couple of shots of whiskey wouldn't hurt. As she pulled up to the market there was a spot close to the door for her to park. The dark clouds looked like they could let down a flood of rain any second. With crossed fingers, she jogged the short distance to the door and prayed the rain would hold back for at least twenty minutes so she could finish at the store.

She wasn't in any type of rush to get home, so she decided to pick up a few things. She reminded herself as she was walking down the aisles to grab the few items that Bridget had written on the board stuck to the fridge. They normally would go together on the weekend, but since she was already there she might as well.

Franky knew she had royally fucked up this morning and she was going to have to make up for it. She had prepared a roast with veggies last night and had put it in the crockpot to turn on this morning, so when they got home from work dinner would be ready. One less thing for her to worry about. As she was walking past the bakery section of the store, she grabbed a fresh hot loaf of bread to go with their meal and put it among the other items she had already collected.

They had run out of wine, well Bridget had run out a couple of nights ago, so Franky thought this would be a perfect opportunity to get some more. She passed the usual bottles that they would get with the mix and match deal and headed toward the more expensive stuff. She looked through all of the different types until she found her favorite. She didn't know much about wine, but Bridget was quite the coinsure. They usually only had this one for special occasions, but she decided to splurge for Bridget. Franky couldn't really tell between the different types, but she wasn't about to tell her girlfriend that again. This thought gave her a flashback to when they had started dating about a year ago.

Franky had just finished making a nice sirloin with baked potato and broccoli, while Bridget was sorting through the wine cooler as she tried to decide which would pair the best with the steak. Franky was concentrating more on fixing their baked potatoes with the toppings than Bridget rummaging around, so when Bridget rattled off two different names and asked which she preferred she said she was indifferent. The exact words she recalled were "You pick. I don't really care. I can't tell the difference." Wrong answer. The coinsure then laid into her about the different types of wines, different ways they were made, and how certain wines pair with different meats. That was the first and last time she ever had a conversation with her about the glorified grape juice; from then on out Bridget always picked out which she liked whether they were at a nice dinner or just at the market. Franky learned quickly to keep quiet and drink whatever was given to her and agree with her when asked how it tastes.

She was checking her mental list of everything she had already gotten and what else she needed to get, then decided she was ready to check out. Before heading toward the lines to pay, she made a quick detour towards the candy and was in luck, the store was almost always out of stock of Bridget's favorite box of assorted chocolates, but today there was one box left. Right next to the queue was the refrigerator that held different bouquets of flowers. By the end of the day there were few to pick from, and what was left usually was either lopsided or had wilted. Franky ducked her head to look towards the back of the chiller and saw an assortment of flowers that hadn't been touched by a bunch of grubby hands all day. They were in pristine condition and just happened to be Bridget's favorite.

She had gotten Bridget's favorite wine, the last box of her favorite chocolates, and managed to find flowers that hadn't wilted; maybe the gods decided to shine down on Franky and give her a break from what had been a horrid day.

She had a big smile on her face as she handed the money to the cashier, bagged her groceries, and headed toward the front door. As she walked back out to her car she looked up to the clouds that were still full of rain but hadn't released the downfall just yet. She said silent praises as she stuck the bags in the back seat and started the car to head home.

She pulled into the driveway of their house to find Bridget already there. She suddenly became a little nervous. She had no idea how she was going to respond to Franky's arrival. Right as she opened the door to grab the groceries from the back seat, the clouds decided to pour out the rain.

"Ah, Shit!" she said and quickly loaded the bags on her arm while holding the bouquet of flowers in her other hand. She bumped the door with her hip to close it and made a mad dash towards the covered porch leading up to their front door.

This wasn't a little sprinkle of rain that collectively built, it fell down in sheets, pelting her with large drops of water like hell hath no fury.

Well shit, she mumbled under her breath. Right when she thought she was catching a break, psych! Hopefully this wasn't a bad omen for the dinner that was to come. She struggled to open the door, with bags weighing down one arm, and the flowers she sacrificed her body to keep dry for in the other hand. After several attempted tries to unlock the door, it finally swung opened and she nearly landed face first onto the entryway. She had been using the door to lean her weight against in order to give her enough leverage to open the door when all of a sudden, it gave.

"Ah! Fuck!" she said in a muffled voice, while laughter filled the room. She didn't hear the lock click to unlock before the door had swung open. She groaned internally. What. An. Idiot. With her detour to the store, Bridget had beat her home. She was so used to having to unlock the door since she was always first. She hadn't even thought to try to open the door first. At least the laughter erupting from the blonde was a good sign, even if it was at the fault of her utter humiliation.

Bridget must have heard her struggling and came to the door to the rescue. Once Franky had caught her footing and tried to compose herself, she looked up to see Bridget clutching her stomach, doubled over with laughter.

"Geez. Thanks, Gidge" she said in a droning voice trying to sound annoyed, but the laughs surrounding her were contagious.

"Well? Are you going to help me or just stand there and laugh?"

"You look like a drowned rat." She managed between her laughs.

"Oh, do I now?" Franky looked to Bridget with a smirk and lunged toward the blonde, shaking her head like a dog after a bath. The laughs turned to squeals, as Franky stepped into Bridget's personal bubble, arm still loaded up with bags and the flowers in hand.

"You look a little wet." Bridget beamed at her.

Franky stares intently at her "I feel a lot wet." and leaned in for a kiss, Bridget meeting her halfway.

It had really been one hell of a day, but after seeing, and kissing Bridget, she felt her nerves melt away. It was all going to be okay, even with the difficult discussion to come, she could breathe again, didn't have to worry anymore. Bridget had an uncanny ability to find a solution to anything.


End file.
